Technical Note: Putting Discovery-Driven Planning to Work

The major reason for failure in initiating new growth projects in uncertain environments is the basic tenet of classic project management—the initial strategy is assumed to be correct, and large sums are expended without dealing with the fundamental assumptions.

Discovery-driven planning is vastly different from conventional planning. In conventional planning, success means delivering numbers close to what you thought you would deliver. In discovery-driven planning, success means generating the maximum amount of useful learning for the minimum expenditure. Discovery-driven planning is most useful when the situation is highly uncertain.

Projects implemented in highly uncertain conditions must be driven by an adaptive process in which the key uncertainties/assumptions are constantly in the forefront of project leaders’ minds. The key learning objectives are how to (1) define the key uncertainties, (2) prioritize the key uncertainties, and (3) develop a milestone-driven implementation plan based on these uncertainties.